Pastoral (album)

Pastoral is the third studio album by English electronic music project Gazelle Twin of composer, producer, and musician Elizabeth Bernholz. It was released on 21 September 2018 by Anti-Ghost Moon Ray Records.

Pastoral
Studio album by
Gazelle Twin
Released21 September 2018 (2018-09-21)
Recorded2014–2018
Genre
Length37:23
LabelAnti-Ghost Moon Ray
ProducerGazelle Twin
Gazelle Twin chronology
Unflesh
(2014)		 Pastoral
(2018)
Singles from Pastoral
  1. "Hobby Horse"
    Released: 22 June 2018
  2. "Glory"
    Released: 7 July 2018

Two singles were released to promote the album: "Hobby Horse" and "Glory", both accompanied by music videos.[1][2]

Background

Originally, Pastoral was to be based on "the bizarre desires related to objects" but the idea got rejected later on.

On the album, Bernholz was inspired by rural life as well as Brexit. She defined the album as her "re-addressing what it means to be English in the face of changing political mood".[3][4]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10[5]
Metacritic81/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
Drowned in Sound10/10[7]
The Skinny[8]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[9]
Loud and Quiet9/10[10]
Mojo[11]
musicOMH[12]
Pitchfork7.7/10[13]
PopMatters[14]
Spectrum Culture[15]
Uncut7/10[6]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews, Pastoral received an average score of 81, based on 11 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[6] Bekki Bemrose of Drowned in Sound stated that the album is "a towering work that truly distils all of its maker's talents into a unified whole", giving the album a score 10 out of 10.[7] PopMatters' Spyro Stasis called Pastoral a "sardonic reconfiguration of avant-pop" that "re-interprets electronic music through an early music/folk lens" while writing in his review that it is "bizzare" in "the most positive way" and that "its amalgamation of traditional musical concepts within this futuristic pop structure is what makes it so enticing."[14]

The album was ranked as the best album of 2018 by The Quietus adding that it is "a disquieting listen", and "Gazelle Twin shows us that any romantic idea of England is a poisoned chalice".[16]

Accolades
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Piccadilly Records Top 100 Albums of 2018
42
[17]
Rough Trade Top 100 Albums of 2018
94
[18]
The Quietus Top 100 Albums of 2018
1
[16]
Uncut Magazine Top 75 Albums of 2018
31
[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gazelle Twin, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Folly"1:10
2."Better in My Day"2:49
3."Little Lambs"3:40
4."Old Thorn"2:05
5."Dieu et Mon Droit"3:41
6."Throne"1:36
7."Mongrel"2:41
8."Glory"5:06
9."Tea Rooms"2:40
10."Jerusalem"1:10
11."Dance of the Peddlers" (lyrics: Gazelle Twin, William Blake)3:04
12."Hobby Horse"3:51
13."Sunny Stories"3:11
14."Over the Hills" (lyrics: John Tams)0:39

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pastoral and Bandcamp page.[20][21]

References
  1. Gazelle Twin (9 August 2018). "Gazelle Twin: Hobby Horse (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 4:3. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  2. Gazelle Twin (17 October 2018). "Gazelle Twin - Glory (official video)". YouTube. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. Hewitt, Ben (20 September 2018). "Gazelle Twin has given Brexit a suitably twisted face and written a soundtrack for the bitterness beneath our green and pleasant land". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  4. "Elizabeth Bernholz aka Gazelle Twin (Music 2003) : Spotlight On... : Development and Alumni Relations : University of Sussex". University of Sussex. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  5. "Pastoral by Gazelle Twin reviews". AnyDecentMusic?.
  6. "Pastoral – Gazelle Twin". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  7. Bemrose, Bekki. "Album Review: Gazelle Twin - Pastoral". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  8. Johnson, Eugenie (17 September 2018). "Gazelle Twin album review: Pastoral - The Skinny". The Skinny.
  9. Wheatley, Chris (18 September 2018). "Gazelle Twin channels parochial angst to stunning, nightmarish effect". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  10. Vinti, Mike (18 September 2018). "Gazelle Twin - Pastoral - Album review - Loud and Quiet". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  11. Wood, Anna (21 August 2018). "Mojo - October 2018". Mojo. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  12. Shepherd, Sam (21 September 2018). "Pastoral". MusicOMH.
  13. Pattison, Louis (17 September 2018). "Pastoral". Pitchfork.
  14. Stasis, Spyros (17 September 2018). "'Pastoral' Sees Gazelle Twin Perform a Sardonic Reconfiguration of Avant-pop". PopMatters. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  15. Lockie, Connor (19 November 2018). "Gazelle Twin: Pastoral - Spectrum Culture". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  16. Turner, Luke (25 December 2018). "Quietus Albums Of The Year 2018, In Association With Norman Records". The Quietus. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  17. "Piccadilly Records". Piccadillyrecords.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  18. "Rough Trade's Albums of the Year". Roughtrade.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  19. "Uncut's 75 Best Albums of 2018". Albumoftheyear.org. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  20. Pastoral (CD liner notes). Gazelle Twin. Anti-Ghost Moon Ray. 2018. AGMR035.CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. "PASTORAL Gazelle Twin". Gazelle Twin. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
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